CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Recent rains increased soil moisture
throughout the state, according to Jennie Atkins, Water and Atmospheric
Resources Monitoring (WARM) Program manager at the Illinois State Water Survey,
Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois.

Illinois received 1.92 inches of rain from August 11 to 14.
In comparison, the state rainfall total for the first 10 days of August was
0.70 inches. Soil moisture levels had been falling at the 2-, 4-, and 8-inch
depths through the first part of the month, but the recent precipitation has
led to significant increases in all regions of the state.

Statewide soil moisture levels at 2 inches rose an average
of 47 percent from August 11 to 14 to 0.34 water fraction by volume (wfv). The
highest increases occurred in southern Illinois where levels increased an
average of 71 percent over the four-day period.

Soil moisture also increased at 4- and 8-inch depths to
August 14 levels of 0.33 wfv at both depths. Levels at depths of 20 to 59
inches remained high though no significant increases occurred.

Soil temperatures have been 2–4 degrees higher than the
long-term average for the first half of August. Temperatures at 2 inches under
bare soil averaged 78.7 degrees on August 14with regional averages
ranging from 77.1 degrees in the east to 80.8 degrees in western Illinois. At
4 inches, temperatures averaged 78.4 degrees. Under sod, temperatures were
slightly cooler with a state average of 78.3 degrees at 4 inches and 77.8
degrees at 8 inches.

The Illinois State Water Survey at the University of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a division of the Prairie Research Institute, is
the primary agency in Illinois concerned with water and atmospheric resources.